Sixteen local teams open play today in the first round of the Central Coast Section boys tennis team championships, while eight teams that earned byes will wait until Friday to begin play.

“There’s a lot of great teams out there,” Sacred Heart Prep-Atherton coach Losaline Mafileo said. “It’s going to take determination from the kids and they’re going to have to come out to compete.”

SHP (14-7), seeded fourth, gets today off and will play the winner of Burlingame (15-4) and Carmel (17-4).

Today’s top local matchup features the battle for Mountain View, with the Spartans (15-3) playing St. Francis (13-9) at Cuesta Park. Menlo-Atherton (15-4) travels to Mt. Pleasant for a showdown with Silver Creek (13-2), while Gunn-Palo Alto, the only CCS team with a losing record at 6-15, hosts Fremont-Sunnyvale (14-8). All matches are scheduled for 3 p.m. starts.

“We had an extremely tough schedule,” said Gunn coach Jim Gorman, whose team collected bonus points by playing numerous league champions. “We only played the top teams. I do that every year. In past seasons, we’ve been fortuante to beat those teams.”

While Gunn and Fremont both play in the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League, they never met this season because the Titans play in the upper De Anza Division. The coaches have a history: They were teammates back in high school at Monte Vista-Cupertino.

One squad that probably won’t back down is No. 3 Palo Alto (19-3), which in early March outlasted a field of 108 teams to win the California High School Tennis Classic in Fresno.

“We’re really solid all the way down,” Paly coach Andy Harader said. “Menlo is No. 1, there’s no doubt about it. They’re tough, but we’re solid as well and we’re hoping we can really put it together next week.”

After coming back from spring break, Paly lost to Menlo 4-3 in a non-league match. The Vikings lost twice during that stretch, but have regained the form that saw them shine in Fresno.

“We picked up more steam and the last couple of weeks have just been incredible,” Harader said. “It’s been a great ride so far.”

The top seeds to advance after Friday’s second round will host quarterfinals Monday before the tournament moves to Courtside Club in Los Gatos.

“I think it’s going to come down to the top three teams and I think we’re going to beat Bellarmine next Wednesday when we get there,” Harader said. “We seem to have luck on our side, and I think that’s important going into the posteseason. You need to have the breaks.”

SHP hopes its early-season struggles reap benefits during CCS play. The Gators boast three players capable of playing in the No. 1 spot.

“They’re fired up. They’re ready to go,” Mafileo said. “It’s been tough to take the losses with the success of the past couple of years. But they’re looking forward to competing and improving, and you never know in the end. Anything can happen.”

Vytas Mazeika is a sports reporter at The Daily News based out of Menlo Park. He covers athletics at every level, from high school to Stanford to the pros. He also designs the sports pages and copy edits for The Daily News print edition. Mazeika graduated from Carlmont High in 1994 and earned an English bachelor's degree from UCLA.

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